Painted Wings
by Anne-Marie
Summary: Jareth's kingdom is at the point of no return literaly and Sarah is asleep. A very dumb summary I know, but the story is so short its hard to sum it up without giving it away. I don't know how good it is, but better than that summary!


Jareth watched his crystal balls as they twirled, almost of their own will, across his fingertips. His eyes were glazed slightly from watching the pristine depths of magic they contained.

"Your-your highness," a breathless goblin came rushing up to the foot of Jareth's throne. He raised his eyes, an unhappiness settled onto his handsome features, as a light dusting of snow would settle on the spring flowers.

"Yes, Squelch?" He spoke in a monotone.

"The kingdom it's disappearing."

Jareth nodded slowly. "Yes I know."

The goblin began to run away, but then, it realized this was not the answer it had been expecting. Jareth let a small sardonic smile grace his lips.

"I am still king after all."

"Let's stop it, what can I do. I know others to help too Mouser and Fuzzpants, they are good at throwing things and Buffnubs and Rottermoose are good and eating thingsandand."

"They are all good for so much and all of it is nothing." Nothing, tra la la, after all. Hoggle was the first to face the nothing. He was the gatekeeper to Jareth's kingdom, the keeper of the keys, and the kingdom was disappearing, why would it need a gate. Or keys? Jareth again focused on his crystals, "Squelch, this is rather like that almost morbid fairytale movie that so many hold dear. Forgotten magic has been replaced with science, it is no use believing the impossible when it can all be explained with the phrase 'smoke and mirrors'. Don't fear my little subject though, like the gods of Greece, I shan't be forgotten. I will linger on, in stories. The Goblin King was he a dream for a young girl. Or was she his nightmare? Hmm. Both and a little the other way, I would think. Oh Sarah. Why don't more believe?" He stood up and walked towards the window, the sky was glowing an orange, foretelling the setting of the sun. Would it be the last colors to brush the tops of the labyrinth's walls? Jareth shook his head.

"No. We must fight. We must." Squelch balled up his fists and waddled as fiercely as he could over to Jareth.

"Can you dream?" Squelch shook his head.

"That is where we live, my little subject. Share a dream with me and we will continue to fly to other minds. Dreams are the fuel of reality. Sarah painted my wings and now the paint has dried and flaked away." He looked down sadly at the small goblin. The sun was finished setting now and the moon only dimly lit the interior of the castle, Jareth had not bothered with torches that night.

Sarah sat up in her bed gasping. Her bed sheets in a tangle around her pale legs. There was something she had to do, something had grasped her mind and would not let her rest until she had laid this task to rest. With a determination that only a young woman of a few years over twenty could posses she dressed herself: a long white skirt, a thin white top and sandals. Her hair pulled loosely back from her face she walked down the hallway to the spare room she stored her old roommate's things in. April had gone on a back packing tour across Europe for the year, sketching the various ruins and scenery. A few minutes of rummaging afforded Sarah what she was looking for. Sarah was an actress not a painter, but that night the brushes did the work her mind imagined. A kingdom with a gatekeeper was seen from a window high above in a castle over looking a labyrinth, in the middle of the Goblin City. Near the window in the shadows stood a man, who looked more magic than flesh. By his feet a small creature stood with a mournful expression. A final brush stroke, a feather on the windowsill, white but almost silver in the blazing moon light. Unafraid of smearing the new paint Sarah reached extended a finger and caressed the feather.

Jareth turned his head away. The moonlight had suddenly burst forth like a shattering glass of water. And there in the shards of starlight and the wetness of the moon stood the one whom he always dreamed of her fingers resting lightly on a flower.

"I had a dream." Sarah whispered. Jareth took a hesitant step forward and lifted a piece of her dark hair from her shoulders, smoothing it between his thumb and forefinger.

"Yes?" He was afraid to scare away this apparition.

"You needed me to paint you wings Jareth, to let you fly over your kingdom again and to have dreams lift you up like the wind." She lifted her hand from the windowsill, the white feather held lightly between her fingers, she ran it down the side of his face and smiled. Jareth was unsure of what to say. Sarah shook her head, and he thought he heard her laugh lightly.

"Kiss me"

"I can't kiss a dream."

"No, you can't. Neither can I, you silly man. So kiss me, before I have to kiss you. I already did all of the hard work." She winked at Squelch, "Please go tell Hoggle to come visit me tomorrow."

"But—Sarah—Hoggle--"Jareth didn't even want to tell a dream Sarah about her beloved friend. It was too late though, Squelch was already scampering off. Sarah laughed louder this time.

"I see I have to do everything around here, still. It's a good thing I am willing to be your queen." With that she kissed him, long and much harder than any dream possibly could. Jareth looked flabbergasted. "I told you I had a dream. Isn't that what you needed?"

"No. I needed you


End file.
